Hill backs off on provision to ban Defense schedule buys

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The new language dovetails with DOD's own re- quirements that buyers get approval for purchases through contracts outside of the department.

' Defense procurement chief Deidre Lee

Olivier Douliery

Lawkmakers have scaled back a plan to limit how the Defense Department buys goods and services through General Services Administration contracts.

Over the summer, Congress considered a provision that would have prohibited Defense agencies from buying items from any non-DOD contract vehicle if the vehicle's use carried a service charge of more than 1 percent and placed a cap on buys that exceed $100,000. The language effectively would have barred the department from buying off of GSA governmentwide acquisition contracts and schedule deals.

But the reworked spending plan mandated that DOD and GSA inspectors general review the policies of each GSA Client Support Center and determine by March 15 if they are in compliance with Defense procurement requirements. The bill would bar procurements of more than $100,000 only from the noncompliant centers.

Deidre Lee, director of Defense procurement and acquisition policy, said DOD could live with the requirements. They are 'consistent with our planned policy of requiring procurements that use non-DOD contracts to be approved in accordance with procedures established by the military departments and agencies,' she said.